YOUTH AND CHILDREN

Youth perceptions of alcohol advertising:

are current advertising regulations working?
Alexandra Aiken,1 Tina Lam,2 William Gilmore,2 Lucy Burns,1 Tanya Chikritzhs,2 Simon Lenton,2 Belinda Lloyd,3,4
Dan Lubman,3,4 Rowan Ogeil,3,4 Steve Allsop2

A
significant body of work indicates
that exposure to alcohol advertising
is associated with increased positive
beliefs about alcohol, intentions to drink,
likelihood of underage drinking, and
increased consumption by young people.1-10
Increasing identification with advertising
produces changes in consumers’ attitudes
and behaviours.11,12 Alcohol advertisements
with greater youth appeal appear to have
more of an influence on young peoples’
drinking. The desirability of characters in
alcohol advertising predicts identification
with these characters, which in turn predicts
positive alcohol expectancies, frequency
and quantity of alcohol use.2,13,14 More
active engagement with alcohol marketing
by young people has been associated with
consuming larger quantities of alcohol.15
Abstract
Objectives: We investigated young people’s exposure to alcohol advertising, their intentions
to consume and purchase alcohol products following the viewing of advertisements, and
whether they perceived the actors in the advertisements as being under the age of 25 years.
Methods: Face-to-face interviews were completed with 351 risky drinking 16–19-year-old
Australians, with a sub-sample (n=68) responding to a range of alcohol advertisements in an
in-depth interview.
Results: Participants were exposed to alcohol advertisements from an average of seven specific
contexts in the past 12 months, with younger adolescents more likely to recall TV and outdoor
billboards (n=351). Positive perception of advertisements was associated with increased
intention to use and to purchase advertised products (n=68). A liqueur advertisement actor
was perceived by 94% as being under 25 years-old, and almost 30% thought the advertisement
was marketed at people younger than 18 years of age.
Conclusions: Young people’s perceptions of alcohol advertising are not necessarily in line
with expert/industry assessment; products are sometimes marketed in a way that is highly
appealing to young people. Greater appeal was associated with increased intention to
consume and to purchase products.

While many high-income countries have
some regulation of alcohol advertising,
these systems tend to be developed and
managed by industry, and participation
by advertisers is often voluntary.16-19 For
example, the placement and broadcasting of
alcohol advertising in Australia20-23 is primarily
industry controlled, with some minor input
from government. Furthermore, the actual
content of advertising is entirely governed
by a voluntary, industry-managed code of
conduct, the Alcohol Beverages Advertising
Code (ABAC).17 These quasi-regulatory codes
are common among high-income countries
and appear to be frequently breached.16,24-31
In Australia, although the majority of alcohol
advertisers participate in the voluntary
compliance scheme,17 the decisions made by
Implications for public health: These results indicate deficiencies in the effectiveness of
current advertising codes in regard to protecting the health and wellbeing of adolescents.
Key words: alcohol, alcohol advertising, adolescent, advertising, regulation
the independent adjudication panel do not Furthermore, significant proportions of
have to be enforced, there are no penalties for Australian adolescents and young adults
non-compliance17,18 and the decisions have also perceive alcohol advertisements as
been contested by those who interpret the being aimed at their age group and perceive
Australian voluntary code differently.25,28,29,32 messages inconsistent with the regulatory
Commentators have questioned the code, such as that the beverage would
effectiveness of these advertising enhance mood or social success.31,37-39
codes.16,23,30,33 Australian and US studies based The technical framework of alcohol
on public health expert opinion show that advertising codes is meant to operationalise
alcohol advertisements breaching advertising the spirit of the codes and, in doing so, to
codes are published frequently in media protect children and adolescents from the
consumed by young people,34-36 with similar influence of alcohol advertising. However,
findings reported from the perspective of lay it is clear from these previous studies that
people (the ‘reasonable person test’).26,27,31,37-39 advertisements that breach the codes may

1. National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney, New South Wales
2. National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, Western Australia
3. Eastern Health Clinical School, Monash University, Victoria
4. Turning Point, Eastern Health, Victoria
Correspondence to: Ms Alexandra Aiken, National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052; e-mail: a.aiken@unsw.edu.au
Submitted: November 2017; Revision requested: February 2018; Accepted: March 2018
The authors have stated they have no conflict of interest.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
Aust NZ J Public Health. 2018; 42:234-9; doi: 10.1111/1753-6405.12792

234 Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 2018 vol. 42 no. 3
© 2018 The Authors
Youth and Children Youth perceptions of alcohol advertising
be published, despite pre-vetting processes.
Alcohol advertising codes have been
criticised as inadequate, narrow in scope and
ambiguous in meaning.16,18,30 The ambiguity
leaves room for advertisers to push the
boundaries, resulting in the publication of
advertisements that may technically comply
with the operationalised codes, but are not
always consistent with the spirit of the codes.
Internationally, systems of regulation
generally include that advertising should
not have strong or evident appeal to
children or adolescents (<18 or <21 years
of age, depending on jurisdiction), should
not encourage excessive consumption or
associate alcohol with mood enhancement or
the achievement of success of any kind.16,17,40
The Australian advertising code requires
actors to be at least 25 years of age and to be
clearly depicted as adults (>18 years),17 which
is similar to other codes internationally.16
The current study investigated the extent to
which a selection of alcohol advertisements
had evident appeal to adolescent and
young adult Australian alcohol users, and
whether this was associated with intentions
to consume and purchase the advertised
products. To our knowledge, this is the
first study to assess how young people
themselves perceive the age of the actors in
published advertisements.
Methods
Recruitment
A convenience sample of 351 participants
were recruited via social media, snowballing,
posters at universities/technical colleges
and youth services as a part of a larger
2013 study on drinking among young
Australians.41 Participants completed a
face-to-face quantitative interview (referred
to hereafter as quantitative interview) and
were reimbursed $40, and 68 participants
also completed a further qualitative and
quantitative in-depth interview (referred to
hereafter as the in-depth interview) and were
reimbursed an additional $30.
Sample
The legal age to purchase alcohol in Australia
is 18 years; our sample included heavy-
drinking young adults (18–19 years old) and
adolescents (16–17 years old) to assess any
differences in exposure and perceptions
of those of legal purchasing age and those
below.
2018 vol. 42 no. 3 Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 235
Inclusion criteria were developed to capture print publications, public transport, large
a heavy drinking 16–19-year-old population, events/festivals, clothing, mobile phone
based on population survey data,42,43 defining applications, social networking sites, YouTube
heavy drinking as drinking at least seven and other Internet sites. The in-depth
standard drinks in a single sitting [or 11 interview included questions informed by
standard drinks for 18–19-year-old males], at Chen et al.44 about six alcohol advertisements
least twice a month. The in-depth qualitative (described in Table 1). Advertisements were
participants were consecutively selected from selected from current online and print media
the larger group based on the consumption (all still images), with three chosen that were
of 11+ standard drinks on their last drinking anticipated to be appealing to young people
occasion, with quotas to ensure a balance of (apple cider, liqueur and beer #1) and three
gender, age and occupation. Comparison of that were not expected to be appealing
the sample with heavy-drinking sub-samples (wine, beer #2, whisky), based on alcohol
in school and population datasets,42,43 which type and brand.45 For each advertisement,
used representative sampling techniques, participants were asked:
indicated that the age and gender matched • How much did this ad appeal to you? (Not
samples were broadly similar in terms of rates at all, Not much, A little bit, Quite a bit, Very
of consumption. much)
Of the 351 participants, 51% were male; • How much did the ad make you want to try
20% were aged 16 years; 27% were aged the product? (1-5 scale, as above)
17 years; 27% were aged 18 years; and 26%
• How likely would you be to purchase this
were 19 years of age. The majority were
product? (1-5 scale, as above)
studying (34% school, 22% technical college/
trade apprentice, 24% university); 5% were • What age do you think the main character
employed full-time; 25% were employed part- in this ad is? (Open-ended responses)
time or casually; and 8% were unemployed. • Who do you think this product is marketed
Participants were from four Australian sites: towards (e.g. a particular age range,
Sydney, New South Wales (29%); Melbourne, gender, subculture, etc.)? (Open-ended
Victoria (25%); Perth, Western Australia (27%); responses)
and Bunbury, Western Australia (19%). This • Do you think there are any perceived
study received ethics approval from all data benefits to buying or drinking this
collection sites. product? (Open-ended responses)
Measures Analyses
The quantitative interview questions included Chi-squared analyses were used to determine
demographics, perception of the age of whether the items about exposure to
characters in alcohol advertising generally, advertising and the perceived age of actors
and exposure to alcohol advertising across varied by participant age, and whether items
13 possible placements including television, about advertisement appeal, intentions to
radio, licensed venues (e.g. nightclubs or try and to purchase the advertised products
pubs), outdoor billboards/posters, cinema, differed by participant age or gender. The
Table 1: Descriptions of the six alcohol advertisements (in order of presentation to participants).
Product Description of advertisement
Beer 1 A man wearing a singlet and unbuttoned denim shirt with a large number of wooden clothes pegs attached to his
beard down to waist level. A picture of the beer is shown, along with the words “Hello Beer”.
Whisky A black background with a yellow petrol gauge showing empty on the right and a silhouette of a man wearing a top
hat and tails with a walking stick on the left. The text reads “Keep walking” and the brand name. There is no depiction
of the product bottle.
Apple cider Two figures with female bodies and male heads in a countryside scene, one playing a banjo and one holding an apple
crate. They have beards and long blond plaited hair. A picture of the cider is shown in the foreground and the text
reads “Not as sweet as you think”.
Liqueur An attractive young woman wearing orange short shorts and green high heels stands with her back to the viewer,
looking over her shoulder with her mouth open and holding a lime coloured cocktail. The background is orange and
contains an oversized orange stereo. Text reads “Brand Name best mixed with short shorts”. A lime-coloured product
bottle is shown with the text “Best mixed with summer”.
Beer 2 A close-up image of the beer bottle with ice and water droplets on the bottle over a green corrugated background. The
text reads “It’s back. Matter of fact you can get it now. For a hard earned thirst.”
Wine The words “Talk Eat Live Laugh” in cartoon text across a dark coloured background. A clown-like cartoon character
forms part of each word. Underneath the text reads “Share ‘Brand Name’”. No depiction of a product bottle.
© 2018 The Authors
Aiken et al. Article

in-depth interview sub-sample’s open-ended Table 2. Although there were no significant responses to the older teenagers. Males were
estimates of advertisement character age and differences in appeal by participant age, it more likely to want to purchase the beers and
intended target audience age were grouped is of note that there were non-significant females the liqueur.
into categories (<18 years, 18–24 years, 25+ differences in rating of appeal between Table 3 shows the associations between
years) for similar chi-square tests. Their open- 16–17-year-olds and 18–19-year-olds for the wanting to try a product and whether the
ended responses regarding the marketing of apple cider (48% vs. 68%), the whisky (24% young people found the advertisement for
advertised products and perceived benefits vs. 10%) and beer #2 advertisements (35% that product appealing (all ages combined
associated with the products were analysed vs. 26%). Males were significantly more likely due to small cell sizes). Those who rated
using an inductive, bottom up approach. to find the beer advertisements appealing the advertisements as appealing were
Quantitative analyses were conducted compared to females. significantly more likely to report that they
using STATA/SE software, version 11.2 (Stata wanted to try the product (Table 3). Similarly,
Corporation, 2012). Intentions to use and to purchase those who found an advertisement appealing
advertised products
were significantly more likely to report
Compared to the other advertised products,
Results wanting to purchase the product, compared
higher proportions wanted to try the apple with those who did not find it appealing, with
Advertising exposure cider and the liqueur ‘quite a lot’ or ‘very much’ the exception of the wine advertisement.
There was high recall of context specific based on the respective advertisements
alcohol advertising in the past 12 months, (Table 2). Younger teenagers were Perceived age of actors in the alcohol
with participants reporting exposure significantly more likely to want to try the advertisements
from an average of 7.4 contexts (standard whisky compared with the older teenagers. The actor in the liqueur advertisement was
deviation=2.5) of the 13 response options: Females were significantly more likely to perceived as being under 25 years of age
89% reported seeing alcohol advertising want to try the liqueur compared to males, by 94% of the sample (97% of 16–17-year-
on television; 82% on outdoor billboards or and males were more likely to want to try the olds), with the perceived age ranging from
posters; 80% at large events; 76% in print whisky (in particular, younger males, of whom 16–27 years. Almost one-quarter rated the
publications; 60% on social networking sites 38% reported wanting to try compared with actors in the apple cider advertisement as
and other internet sites; 58% on clothing; 50% 6% of 18–19-year-old males (χ2(1, N=68)=4.93, appearing under 25 years of age (range 18–40
on YouTube; 44% on radio; and 37% on public p=0.03). years). Fifteen per cent rated the actor in the
transport (n=351). Participants aged 18–19 When asked how likely they would be advertisement for beer #1 as appearing to be
years were more likely to report exposure to to purchase the products based on the under 25 years of age (range 20–45 years).
alcohol advertising in licenced venues (76% advertisements, participants again more There were no significant differences by
vs. 39%; χ2(1, N=351)=49.10, p<0.01) and on frequently reported wanting to purchase participant age. The whisky, wine and beer #2
social networking sites (65% vs. 54%; χ2 (‘quite a lot’ or ‘very much’) the apple cider advertisements contained no actors, so were
(1, N=351)=4.39, p=0.04). Those aged 16–17 (41%) and liqueur (35%), see Table 2. The not included in this analysis.
years were more likely to report exposure 16–17-year-olds showed a similar pattern of
to alcohol advertising on television (94% vs.
86%; χ2(1, N=351)=6.45, p=0.01) and outdoor Table 2: Proportion of participants (n=68) reporting that the adverts were appealing,a wanting to try,a and to
billboards/posters (87% vs. 77%; χ2 purchase the advertised products,a and differences by participant age and gender.
(1, N=351)=5.31, p=0.02). % of % by participant age % by participant gender
Advert sample 16-17 years 18-19 years χ2 Male Female χ2
(n=68) (n=29) (n=39) (n=33) (n=35)
Perceived age of actors in alcohol
Appeals 25.0% 24.1% 25.6% 0.02 36.4% 14.3% 4.42*
advertising Beer 1 Want to try 10.3% 10.3% 10.3% 0.00 15.2% 5.7% 1.64
More than half (55%) of the 351 participants Want to purchase 21.2% 28.6% 15.8% 1.58 36.4% 6.1% 9.07*
perceived that the actors in alcohol Appeals 16.2% 24.1% 10.3% 2.36 24.2% 8.6% 3.08
advertisements ‘always’ or ‘usually’ appeared Whisky Want to try 11.8% 20.7% 5.1% 3.88* 21.2% 2.9% 5.51*
to be under 25 years of age. A further 21% Want to purchase 19.1% 27.6% 12.8% 2.35 27.3% 11.4% 2.76
thought that they ‘sometimes’ appeared to be Appeals 59.7% 48.3% 68.4% 2.77 57.6% 61.8% 0.12
under 25 years old. There were no significant Apple Cider Want to try 47.1% 48.3% 46.2% 0.03 42.4% 51.4% 0.55
differences by participant age or gender. Want to purchase 41.2% 41.4% 41.0% 0.00 36.4% 45.7% 0.61
Appeals 44.1% 44.8% 43.6% 0.01 39.4% 48.6% 0.58
Liqueur Want to try 34.3% 35.7% 33.3% 0.04 21.2% 47.1% 4.96*
Perceptions of alcohol advertisements
Want to purchase 34.9% 42.9% 29.0% 1.37 21.2% 48.5% 5.41*
The remaining results report on the in-depth Appeals 29.4% 34.5% 25.6% 0.63 42.4% 17.1% 5.23*
interview explorations of the six alcohol Beer 2 Want to try 22.1% 27.6% 18.0% 0.90 30.3% 14.3% 2.53
advertisements (n=68). Want to purchase 27.9% 27.6% 28.2% 0.00 45.5% 11.4% 9.77*
Appeals 23.5% 20.7% 25.6% 0.23 18.2% 28.6% 1.02
Appeal of alcohol advertisements Wine Want to try 14.7% 20.7% 10.3% 1.44 9.1% 20.0% 1.61
The apple cider and liqueur advertisements Want to purchase 8.8% 10.3% 7.7% 0.15 6.1% 11.4% 0.61
a: ‘very much’ and ‘quite a lot’ categories combined
were rated most often as ‘very’ or ‘quite’
*p<0.05
appealing (60% and 44%, respectively), see

236 Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 2018 vol. 42 no. 3
© 2018 The Authors
Youth and Children Youth perceptions of alcohol advertising
Perceptions of target markets and benefits
associated with consumption of products
The advertisements with actors perceived
to be relatively young were also perceived
to be targeted at young people. Almost 30%
thought that the liqueur advertisement
was marketed at people less than 18 years
of age, 40% thought that the apple cider
advertisement was targeted at those under
25 years and 8% at those under 18 years of
age. Almost one-quarter thought that the first
beer advertisement was marketed at those
under 25 years of age. Very few participants
thought that the whisky, the second beer or
the wine advertisements were marketed at
those less than 25 years of age. There were no
significant differences by participant age.
Qualitative responses to advertisements
The qualitative responses to the
advertisements give insight into why
certain advertisements may have appealed
more than others. For example, the
liqueur advertisement was associated
with attractiveness, partying, and being
fashionable: “If you are a girl, it will make
you look hot like her. If you are a man, you
can buy these drinks for girls who look like
her” (Female, 19); “You look fun; you are up
for a good night” (Male, 17); “It’ll taste good,
it looks pretty and it’s cool, yeah” (Female,
18). The apple cider advertisement was seen
as being funny and was associated with
relaxation, fun and being young: “It’s like
a funny ad with animals … it just appeals
more to kids” (Male, 16); “It is going to give
you a good time if you drink it” (Female, 18);
“You’d be happier [if you drank it]” (Male, 16).
The advertisement for beer #1 was seen as
humorous and appealing particularly to men:
Table 3: Association between the appeal of an advert and intentions to try the advertised product based on the
advert (n=68).a
Advert Participant wants to try the product?a
Advert
Appeals?a Yes
Beer 1 Yes 23.5%
No 5.9%
Whisky Yes 45.5%
No 5.3%
Apple Cider Yes 65.0%
No 18.5%
Liqueur Yes 70.0%
No 5.4%
Beer 2 Yes 60.0%
No 6.3%
Wine Yes 43.8%
No 5.8%
a: ‘very much’ and ‘quite a lot’ categories combined
* p<0.05 **p<0.0001
2018 vol. 42 no. 3 Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 237
“You would be like the funny guy” (Female, of alcohol advertising to adolescents. The
18); “It just looks humorous and like fun more current study also demonstrates that the
than anything” (Female, 16); “Yeah, I think it’s perceptions of young people regarding
saying it makes you more manly sort of thing, alcohol advertising do not necessarily match
or tough” (Male, 17). industry assessments of regulatory codes.
The other advertisements were often The published advertisements presented in
associated with characteristics or benefits not this study had all passed review by the ABAC,
usually associated with teenage drinkers. For yet the responses from the young people in
example, the whisky was often seen as being the in-depth interview sub-sample (n=68)
expensive and for older people: “You look demonstrated that, from the perspective of
classy [if you drink it]” (Male, 18); “[It’s] a bit young people, some of the advertisements
more upper class, more mature” (Male, 18). The contravened the guidelines set down in the
wine was often seen as being for more mature ABAC. Some of the presented advertisements
and sophisticated people: “You might be more directly appealed to both adolescents and
cultured if you drink wine” (Male, 19); “I’d say young adults and were seen as containing
middle age … 30 to 50. People who are more actors who were perceived as quite young.
settled down and drink to enjoy it” (Female, The appeal of the advertisements was
18). The advertisement for beer #2 tended to associated with intentions to consume and
be seen as appealing to men “You’ll look like a to purchase advertised products, which is of
man drinking one” (Male, 18); “Blokes. Just like concern. The qualitative responses support
manly men, like hard core Aussie guys who the previous research indicating the young
work in the mines” (Male, 19). people regularly perceive messages that
alcohol enhances mood and/or social success.
The perceptions of these young people are
Discussion in line with previous research using public
health expert and researcher assessment of
This study draws directly on the views of
advertisements, indicating that the voluntary
young people, rather than relying on the
industry-managed codes are frequently
views of experts or researchers, to understand
breached.16,24-31
the ways in which alcohol advertisements
are perceived. The majority of the 351 Most of the advertisements shown appealed
participants reported regular exposure to to at least some of the adolescents, and two
alcohol advertising, particularly on television stood out as being particularly appealing.
and outdoor billboards and at festivals/ Consistent with young people’s drink
events (all locations that are potentially preferences,45 more than half of 16–17-year-
accessible to children and adolescents). The old participants indicated that the apple
similar rates of exposure for the adolescents cider advertisement was strongly appealing
(16–17 years) and adults (18–19 years) and 45% found the liqueur advertisement
demonstrates that the current – mainly similarly appealing. These advertisements
industry-managed – regulation system in may have passed compliance checks against
Australia does little to prevent exposure the Australian industry code, which states
that they ‘must not have strong or evident
appeal to minors’;7(p2) however, from the
perspective of young people, they do have
Participant wants to purchase the product?a evident appeal. Of course, advertising
No χ2 Yes No χ2 aims to be attractive and appealing to
76.5% 4.30* 41.2% 58.8% 5.46* potential consumers and, while the alcohol
94.1% 14.3% 85.7% industry might argue that advertisements
54.6% 14.35** 72.7% 27.3% 24.39** do not intentionally target adolescents,
94.7% 8.8% 91.2% the marketing messages are nonetheless
35.0% 14.01** 52.5% 47.5% 6.14* reaching adolescents.
81.5% 77.8% 22.2%
Alcohol advertising codes tend to prohibit
30.0% 30.66** 48.3% 51.7% 4.11*
the use of actors or characters who are under
94.6% 24.3% 75.7%
25 years of age,16,17,40 which attempts to
40.0% 23.72** 75.0% 25.0% 31.16**
93.8% 8.3% 91.7% control the perceived age of characters in
56.3% 14.07** 18.8% 81.3% 2.56 advertising. As one might reasonably expect,
94.2% 5.8% 94.2% there is a connection between the use of
likeable, youthful characters and the appeal
of an advertisement to young people.2,13,14,44
© 2018 The Authors
Aiken et al. Article
The apple cider and liqueur advertisements
contained actors who were more often
perceived as being younger than 25 years
of age by the adolescents in this study.
Furthermore, participants of all ages often
rated these two advertisements as being
marketed toward under those aged under 25
years, with almost one-third perceiving the
liqueur advertisement as specifically targeting
adolescents. Of course, these advertisements
are not unusual in their use of young actors;
the majority of the 351 participants indicated
that actors in alcohol advertising ‘usually’ or
‘always’ appeared to be under 25 years of age.
This result is consistent with UK research that
found 29% of advertisements studied had
strong appeal to people aged under 18 and
13% featured actors who appeared under
25 years of age.27 While the actors in alcohol
advertising may actually be older than 25
years of age, advertising is regularly perceived
as presenting younger adults (<25 years).
The notion that these advertisements do not
appeal to those under 18 years of age cannot
be easily sustained. While the advertisements
shown in this study may be consistent
with the technical framework of the code,
some do directly appeal to adolescents,
and sometimes used actors perceived as
<25 years, possibly increasing this appeal.
This is of concern considering the evidence
showing positive perceptions of an alcohol
advertisement are associated with intentions
to consume the alcoholic product,38 and that
advertising exposure and appeal are linked
to increased alcohol consumption.2,5,9,13,15,46
The current study, together with previous
research, demonstrates that the current
regulations are not necessarily achieving
the intent of the codes – to ensure that
alcohol is marketed in a ‘responsible manner’.
The code claims that the signatories are
committed to ensuring alcohol advertising
content “complies with the Code’s spirit and
intent”.17(p1) While the code does not define
‘responsible’, surely the ‘spirit and intent’ of
the code should include protecting the health
and wellbeing of children and adolescents?
The current study had several advantages:
the in-depth interview participants reviewed
a variety of published advertisements
for different alcohol products; whereas,
some previous studies have either shown
only advertisements for a particular
product37,39 or only advertisements that
were considered to be in breach of the
code by the researchers.38,39 This allowed
investigation into whether particular
238 Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 2018 vol. 42 no. 3
approved advertisements/products are
appealing to young people and whether
those advertisements that meet the industry
standards are perceived as such by young
people. This study asked young people
themselves to rate the advertisements and
potential breaches of code as opposed to
researchers, or code panel members. This was
done to gain insight into the probable impact
that alcohol advertising may have on the
group that actually consumes the advertising
content and products.
While the sub-sample was modest, all
participants viewed all advertisements, which
gave sufficient sample sizes for comparison
of the different advertisements, rather
than presenting combined data as some
previous studies have done.27,38 However,
the study may have lacked the power to
detect differences when the sub-sample was
broken down by age or gender. Differences
observed in the proportions of 16–17-year-
olds and 18–19-year-olds who found the
advertisements appealing and indicated
intentions to consume, or to purchase alcohol
products, were not significant. However,
the important point is that substantial
proportions of the 16–17-year-olds are
finding alcohol advertisements appealing,
want to consume and to purchase these
products, and perceive the advertisements
as being marketed at those younger than 25
years of age.
A second limitation is that the sample is not
representative of the general population of
16–19-year-olds; this sample was purposively
selected from the heaviest alcohol users
for this age group. However, it is important
to understand influences on this high-risk
drinking group, particularly in light of recent
indications that the heaviest drinkers in
Australia are increasing their consumption,
whereas more moderate drinkers tend to be
reducing their consumption.42,47 The results
here are consistent with previous research
from more general populations.26,27,31,37-39
Finally, the current study is cross-sectional, so
it is not possible to establish causal direction.
It is possible that young people find particular
advertisements more appealing because
they already have experience with that type
of alcohol, or that young people who are
more likely to consume alcohol are also more
likely to find advertising appealing. However,
the association between advertising appeal
and intentions to use has been previously
observed, and there is now longitudinal
© 2018 The Authors
data demonstrating the impact of
advertising exposure and appeal on alcohol
consumption.2,15,38
In summary, while much of the previous
research has been undertaken using
only experts or researchers to assess
advertisements, the current research
adds to the growing body of evidence
representing the probable response by
lay people. This study shows that alcohol
products are sometimes marketed in a
way that directly appeals to adolescents,
and this fact needs to be understood in
considering the effectiveness of advertising
codes in protecting the health of young
people. While we cannot comment on the
intended messages of these advertisements,
it is clear that what is being perceived by
these young people is not consistent with
the ‘responsible’ marketing spirit of alcohol
advertising codes. The results of this study
provide further impetus for a thorough
review and revision of alcohol advertising
codes and processes of adjudication, as
has been recommended by experts and
government bodies internationally.16,23,25,30
Current industry-regulated systems are
not adequately protecting children and
adolescents from exposure to or the influence
of alcohol marketing. Advertisements
strongly appealing to children or adolescents
should be considered in breach of advertising
codes, regardless of whether they also appeal
to adults.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the young people who
participated in the study and staff from the
National Drug Research Institute (NDRI;
Curtin University), National Drug and Alcohol
Research Centre (NDARC; UNSW Australia),
Turning Point (Eastern Health and Monash
University), South West Community Drug
Service Team (St John of God Bunbury
Hospital), the office for the Commissioner
for Children and Young People, and the
Departments of Health (WA, NSW, VIC).
This study was supported by the Australian
National Preventive Health Agency
(140ALL2011). NDRI and NDARC are
supported by funding from the Australian
Government under the Substance Misuse
Prevention and Service Improvement Grants
Fund.
Youth and Children Youth perceptions of alcohol advertising
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